355: Neurodiversity: Making Your Church Accessible (Bec Baines)

There has been a greater awareness of neurodiversity in our world today, Bec Baines explains how churches can be better equiped to minister to people with different forms of neurodiversity as we see the gospel include all sorts of people. Neurodivergence can include the Autism spectrum, PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance), ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), dyslexia, dyspraxia, down syndrome; anything that involves the neurons in your brain. We need to be addressing what is happening for each individual person. Challenges can include social dynamics, the unknown (not how long things go for), sounds and loudness of music and things. Creating a structure is good for neurodiverse people. For kids and youth, it's important to get to know the person, having visual schedules and being flexible. For adults, again its important to get to know the person, to be gracious, communicate clearly with them and help them to understand the structure of churches. There is a difference between inclusion (made it possible for people to be there) and belonging (you want them there, they are active members and will be missed if they are not there). The gospel should shape this ministry, like every other ministry in church. TOOL BOX: Some of Bec's Blog Posts Contact Bec:[email protected] CREDITS: The One Thing is brought to you by ⁠⁠⁠⁠Reach Australia⁠⁠⁠⁠ To pray for Reach Australia, join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠WhatsApp Group⁠⁠⁠⁠. For ideas or questions please email ⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠ To support the Reach Australia Online Library head ⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠.